Business Tools Hub

The right tools to run your business

We've researched and compared the best business tools across payments, accounting, email, scheduling, CRM and more — so you don't have to. Each category includes our clear pick and honest pros and cons.

7 categories

21 tools compared

Our pick for each

Payment Gateways Accounting Software Email & Productivity Scheduling & Bookings CRM & Customer Management Email Signatures & Branding Analytics & Tracking

We've done the research so you don't have to

Running a business means juggling dozens of tools — payments, accounting, email, bookings, CRM, analytics and more. We've compared the top options in each category, with honest pros, cons, pricing, and a clear recommendation. These are the tools we actually use and recommend to our clients.

Payment Gateways

Our pick: Stripe — Best balance of competitive fees, developer flexibility, subscription support, and clean checkout experience. The industry standard for online payments.

Our Pick

Stripe

The developer-first payment platform. Full custom checkout control, subscriptions, invoicing, and 135+ currencies.

Fees1.75% + A$0.30 per domestic transaction

Best forOnline businesses, subscriptions, SaaS, custom integrations

Most flexible API

Clean checkout

Excellent subscriptions

Strong fraud protection

Works with everything

Requires developer setup

No in-person hardware

Visit Stripe

Square

Unified in-person and online payments with excellent hardware (Reader, Terminal, Register). Lowest per-transaction fees.

Fees1.6% per transaction (no fixed fee)

Best forCafés, retail, service businesses with in-person + online sales

Lowest fees

Great hardware

Unified POS + online

Free invoicing

Limited customisation

Weaker subscription tools

Visit Square

PayPal

The most recognised payment brand globally. Maximum consumer trust, but higher fees and less customisation.

Fees3.49% + A$0.09 per transaction

Best forInternational sales, businesses wanting maximum consumer trust

Highest brand trust

200+ markets

Buyer protection

Easy setup

Highest fees

No custom checkout

Account holds common

Limited API control

Visit PayPal

Accounting Software

Our pick: Xero — Modern, cloud-native, 1000+ integrations, STP2-compliant payroll, and the platform most Australian accountants now prefer.

Our Pick

Xero

Cloud accounting built in New Zealand, now the dominant platform for Australian small businesses. Beautiful interface, massive integration ecosystem.

FeesFrom ~$15/month

Best forService businesses, startups, growing businesses wanting modern tools

1000+ integrations

Excellent bank feeds

STP2 payroll

Clean interface

Strong accountant network

Advanced features need higher tiers

Inventory tools are basic

Visit Xero

MYOB

The long-standing Australian accounting standard. Deep local tax compliance, trusted by many traditional accountants.

FeesFrom ~$27/month

Best forEstablished businesses, those with complex needs, businesses already using MYOB

Deep ATO compliance

Trusted by traditional accountants

Strong inventory

STP2 payroll

Higher starting price

Dated interface

Fewer integrations than Xero

Visit MYOB

QuickBooks

Affordable accounting from Intuit. Easy to use but Australian compliance features are less polished than Xero or MYOB.

FeesFrom ~$15/month

Best forSole traders, very small businesses watching every dollar

Affordable

Easy to learn

Good mobile app

Simple invoicing

Weaker BAS tools

STP2 payroll limited

US-centric features

Fewer local integrations

Visit QuickBooks

Email & Productivity

Our pick: Google Workspace — Familiar Gmail interface, excellent collaboration tools, massive integration ecosystem, and great value at ~$9.50/user/month.

Our Pick

Google Workspace

Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet — the full Google suite on your custom domain. The most popular business email platform.

Fees~$9.50/user/month (Business Starter)

Best forMost businesses. Familiar, collaborative, integrates with everything.

Familiar Gmail interface

30GB+ storage

Excellent collaboration

1000+ integrations

Great mobile apps

Storage limits on lower tiers

Can feel less 'corporate' than Outlook

Visit Google Workspace

Microsoft 365

Outlook email, Teams, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint — the full Microsoft ecosystem on your domain.

Fees~$10.50/user/month (Business Basic)

Best forBusinesses invested in Microsoft tools, those who prefer Outlook, larger organisations

Full Office suite

Teams collaboration

Outlook interface

1TB OneDrive

Enterprise-grade security

More complex setup

Heavier interface

Less integration-friendly than Google

Visit Microsoft 365

Zoho Mail

Affordable business email with a clean interface and the broader Zoho ecosystem (CRM, projects, docs).

FeesFrom ~$1.50/user/month

Best forBudget-conscious businesses, those already using Zoho CRM or other Zoho apps

Very affordable

Clean interface

Part of Zoho suite

Good privacy controls

Smaller ecosystem

Less recognised brand

Fewer third-party integrations

Visit Zoho Mail

Scheduling & Bookings

Our pick: Calendly — Cleanest interface, widest integration support, and a generous free tier. Works with Google, Outlook, Zoom, Stripe and more.

Our Pick

Calendly

The most popular scheduling tool. Clean booking page, integrates with Google/Outlook calendars, Zoom, Stripe, and more.

FeesFree tier available; Premium from ~$12/month

Best forConsultants, service businesses, anyone who books appointments

Cleanest interface

Free tier

Wide integrations

Embeddable on websites

Automated reminders

Premium features need paid plan

Custom branding is expensive

Visit Calendly

Cal.com

Open-source alternative to Calendly. Self-hostable, privacy-focused, with a generous hosted free tier.

FeesFree tier available; Premium from ~$12/month

Best forPrivacy-conscious businesses, developers, those wanting open-source

Open source

Self-hostable

Clean interface

Good free tier

Smaller ecosystem

Fewer integrations than Calendly

Visit Cal.com

Acuity Scheduling

Scheduling with built-in payment collection, intake forms, and group booking. Now owned by Squarespace.

FeesFrom ~$17/month

Best forBusinesses that take deposits at booking, wellness/therapy practices

Built-in payments

Intake forms

Group bookings

Gift certificates

More expensive

Interface feels dated

Squarespace-owned now

Visit Acuity Scheduling

CRM & Customer Management

Our pick: HubSpot Free CRM — Genuinely useful free tier with no time limit, contact management, email tracking, and deal pipeline. Upgrade only when you need more.

Our Pick

HubSpot Free CRM

Free CRM with contact management, email tracking, deal pipeline, and meeting scheduling. No time limit on the free tier.

FeesFree forever; Starter from ~$20/month

Best forSmall businesses, service businesses, anyone starting with CRM

Genuinely free tier

Clean interface

Email integration

Deal pipeline

Marketing tools available

Premium tiers get expensive

Some features locked behind higher plans

Visit HubSpot Free CRM

Salesforce

Enterprise-grade CRM. Extremely powerful but complex and expensive — overkill for most small businesses.

FeesFrom ~$35/user/month (Starter); Enterprise ~$200/user/month

Best forMid-to-large businesses with dedicated sales teams

Most powerful CRM

Massive ecosystem

Enterprise-grade

Highly customisable

Expensive

Steep learning curve

Needs admin/consultant

Overkill for small business

Visit Salesforce

Pipedrive

Sales-focused CRM with a visual pipeline. Simpler and more affordable than Salesforce, better for sales teams than HubSpot Free.

FeesFrom ~$14/user/month

Best forSales-driven businesses, teams who want a visual pipeline

Visual pipeline

Easy to use

Good integrations

Affordable

No free tier

Marketing features limited

Less all-in-one than HubSpot

Visit Pipedrive

Email Signatures & Branding

Our pick: Wisestamp — Easiest signature builder, widest template range, social links, booking buttons, and banners. Every email becomes a marketing touchpoint.

Our Pick

Wisestamp

Professional email signature builder with social links, booking buttons, banners, and promotional banners. Works with Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail.

FeesFree tier; Pro from ~$6/month

Best forEvery business that sends email — which is every business

Easy builder

Social + booking links

Promotional banners

Works with all email clients

Centralised management

Pro features need paid plan

Some templates feel template-y

Visit Wisestamp

Exclaimer

Enterprise-grade signature management. Centralised control across the entire organisation, server-side.

FeesFrom ~$8/user/month

Best forLarger organisations needing centralised signature control

Server-side management

Centralised control

Marketing campaigns

Compliance ready

Expensive for small teams

Complex setup

Overkill for solopreneurs

Visit Exclaimer

Newoldstamp

Simple signature generator with decent templates and team management features.

FeesFrom ~$5/month

Best forSmall teams wanting simple, branded signatures

Simple interface

Team management

Affordable

Good templates

Fewer features than Wisestamp

Less polish

Limited integrations

Visit Newoldstamp

Analytics & Tracking

Our pick: Google Analytics 4 + Search Console — Both are free, from Google, and cover everything a small business needs: who visits your site, how they found you, and what they did.

Our Pick