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The tools you actually need: Freelance web development

Most "best software" lists are written for everyone and therefore for nobody. This one is filtered to Freelance web development at €200–€1,200 of startup capital and 8–40 hours a week, which changes the answer.

Buy almost none of this in month one

At 92% net margin and 3 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.

Website and store

Hostinger

we earn nothing

Web hosting and domains

Visit Hostinger →

Webflow

we earn nothing

Visual website builder for professionals

Visit Webflow →

Elementor

we earn nothing

WordPress page builder

Visit Elementor →

Kinsta

we earn nothing

Managed WordPress hosting

Visit Kinsta →

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 →

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.

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) →

Design

Canva

we earn nothing

Design, templates, brand kits

Visit Canva →

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:

domain and hostingagency profilesaccountant

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