All businesses / Admin support for foreigners / Tools

The tools you actually need: Admin support for foreigners

Most "best software" lists are written for everyone and therefore for nobody. This one is filtered to Admin support for foreigners at €200–€1,500 of startup capital and 8–30 hours a week, which changes the answer.

Buy almost none of this in month one

At 90% net margin and 6 weeks to your first euro, every subscription you start today is a cost you carry through the unpaid months. The order that works is: get a customer, then buy the thing that customer made necessary.

Specific to this trade

Tools that exist for this kind of work and would make little sense for another.

Writing and AI

Claude (Anthropic)

we earn nothing

AI assistant, writing, code, analysis

Max users get guest passes and $10 credit per paid referral. That is a referral perk, not income. The Partner Network is enterprise co-selling, not links.

Visit Claude (Anthropic) →

ChatGPT (OpenAI)

we earn nothing

AI assistant and API

Write about it anyway: it pulls search traffic that then converts on the tools next to it. Just never build a page expecting it to pay.

Visit ChatGPT (OpenAI) →

Perplexity

we earn nothing

AI search and research

Visit Perplexity →

Automation

Make

we earn nothing

Visual workflow automation

Visit Make →

Zapier

we earn nothing

App-to-app automation

Visit Zapier →

Running the work

Airtable

we earn nothing

Database that behaves like a spreadsheet

Visit Airtable →

Notion

we earn nothing

Notes, docs, lightweight databases

Visit Notion →

Money and invoicing

Wise Business

we earn nothing

Multi-currency account and cheap transfers

Visit Wise Business →

Moneybird

we earn nothing

Dutch invoicing and bookkeeping

Visit Moneybird →

Booking and scheduling

Calendly

we earn nothing

Scheduling links

Visit Calendly →

Whatever you start

Not specific to this trade. These are the ones almost every new business ends up paying for, listed so the total is honest rather than flattering.

Design

Canva

we earn nothing

Design, templates, brand kits

Visit Canva →

Website and store

Hostinger

we earn nothing

Web hosting and domains

Visit Hostinger →

Email and audience

Brevo

we earn nothing

Email, SMS and CRM for small business

Visit Brevo →

What else you have to buy

Software is the cheap half. These are the things this business cannot start without, and none of them are a subscription:

professional indemnitydocument templatesbooking tool

How this page pays for itself, in full

Right now we earn nothing from any of the 13 tools on this page, and every card says so. As programmes are approved, the ones that pay us will be labelled individually. Claude, ChatGPT, Ahrefs, Midjourney and Google Business Profile have no affiliate programme at all, and they still appear where they belong. If a recommendation only ever pointed at things that paid us, the page would be worth nothing to you.

Before you buy any of it

Check the business clears your target first. Spending on tools for a model that doesn't fit your hours or your capital is the most common way people lose their first thousand euros.

Find what fits my budget → The guide Back to the numbers