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The tools you actually need: Copywriting and ghostwriting

Most "best software" lists are written for everyone and therefore for nobody. This one is filtered to Copywriting and ghostwriting at €150–€600 of startup capital and 8–35 hours a week, which changes the answer.

Buy almost none of this in month one

At 92% net margin and 4 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) →

Jasper

we earn nothing

AI copywriting for marketing teams

Visit Jasper →

Writesonic

we earn nothing

AI writing and SEO content

Visit Writesonic →

Copy.ai

we earn nothing

AI writing and go-to-market workflows

Visit Copy.ai →

Search and being found

Surfer SEO

we earn nothing

Content optimisation against search results

Visit Surfer SEO →

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:

portfolioagency profilesresearch tools

How this page pays for itself, in full

Right now we earn nothing from any of the 9 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